Headless Valley – Bekah Ferguson Skip to content Bekah Ferguson Catching Nuance Menu and widgets Blog Home About the Author Short Stories Canadian Folklore & Ghost Stories Bekah’s Novels Follow Me Related Posts The Haunting of Binstead House, PEI The Christie Mansion Ghost of Toronto The Loup-Garou (Werewolf) of Quebec Mary Gallagher, the Headless Ghost of Griffintown The Canadian Lizard Man of Vancouver Island Search for: Recent Blogs The Haunting of Binstead House, PEI The Christie Mansion Ghost of Toronto The Loup-Garou (Werewolf) of Quebec Mary Gallagher, the Headless Ghost of Griffintown The Canadian Lizard Man of Vancouver Island Categories Musings on Life and Faith Short Stories CommentsBekah Ferguson on Diary of a Former HypochondriacKayla G. on Diary of a Former HypochondriacBekah Ferguson on The Poltergeist of Baldoon, OntarioCam Knight on The Poltergeist of Baldoon, OntarioThings that go bump in Canada | Bitter Grounds Magazine on The Grey Lady of the Cavalier, Nova Scotia Tag: Headless Valley The Lost World of the Nahanni Valley, NW Territories (4 minute video version) Read on Wattpad As Retold by Bekah Ferguson (4 min read) The Nahanni River winds its way through a mist-shrouded gorge known as “the Valley of the Headless Men,” in the Canadian Northwest Territories. The national reserve is filled with canyons, caves, geysers, towering peaks, untouched forests, and a waterfall twice the height of Niagara Falls. With its wailing winds, the mysterious valley can only be accessed by foot or plane. What’s more, it is believed by Indigenous peoples to be haunted, whose oral history speaks of lurking spirit creatures. Indeed, the “Headless Valley” namesake came about due to several unexplained deaths during the Gold Rush of the early 20th century. In 1906, the McLeod brothers set off in search of gold, but their bodies were later found by a creek: both decapitated, heads never found. In 1917, the headless body of a Swiss prospector was found near a river. Then in 1945, the body of a miner from Ontario was found in his sleeping bag—again without a head. While some speculated the deaths to be the work of a serial-killing hermit, others disagreed; too much time had passed between each killing to be the work of one madman. The Dene, Dogrib, and Inuit tribes of the area had a different explanation altogether. For centuries they had feared a violent race of ape-like humanoids they called the Nuk-Luk, as well as a large canid creature called Waheela. In 1964, John Baptist, a European, along with his trapper companions, reported a frightening encounter with these Nuk-luk, describing them as a hairy, bearded Neanderthal race, less than five feet tall; dressed in moose-skin and carrying clubs. But the Waheela are more terrifying still. Believed to be evil spirits that protect the land against human intruders, they travel alone, taking only the heads of their victims. Looking like snow-white wolves with the broad face and clawed paws of a bear, they resemble the long extinct bear-dog known as Amphicyonidae. Thus it has been said that the Nahanni Valley may well be a “lost world,” a remote land stalked and guarded by surviving relics of a far earlier time. Those who dare venture into the unknown depths of this vast reserve do so at their own peril, for many who have gone did nary return. ADDITIONAL TALES: Canadian Folklore & Ghost Stories Series Sources: The Outdoor Journal steemit Strange Outdoors Macleans Wormwood Chronicles Image by DarkWorkX from Pixabay Related PostsLa Corriveau of New France, Quebec (Jun 14, 2020) https://youtu.be/EUcfheCMK_0 Read on Wattpad As Retold by Bekah Ferguson (4 min read) In 1761 Saint-Vallier, New France, fifteen months after the mysterious death of her first husband, ... The Grey Lady of the Cavalier, Nova Scotia (May 30, 2020) Read on Wattpad As Retold by Bekah Ferguson (2 min read) In the heart of the star-shaped Halifax Citadel in Nova Scotia, is a three-story Cavalier building made of stone with multiple ... The UFO of Falcon Lake, Manitoba (May 22, 2020) https://youtu.be/HMWZxmjXnj8 Read of Wattpad As Retold by Bekah Ferguson (3 min read) On the May long weekend of 1967, an amateur geologist named Stefan Michalak journeyed into the ... The Fort Saskatchewan Wendigo of Alberta (May 15, 2020) https://youtu.be/HEKKcP1fNDo Read on Wattpad As Retold by Bekah Ferguson (4 min read) Swift Runner crouched down in the trampled snow next to the dead body of his hunting partner. ... The Red River Ox Cart Ghost of Manitoba (May 5, 2020) https://youtu.be/AHpmmuDzE6o Read on Wattpad As Retold by Bekah Ferguson (3 min read) “Ghost Scene at the Fort: Nightly Vigils of the Sentries Made Hideous by an Apparition” was ... FacebookTwitterPinterestMastodon Posted on June 6, 2020April 11, 2022Categories Short StoriesTags Amphicyonidae, beardog, canadian, cryptid, decaptitated, folklore, folktales, Gold Rush, Headless Valley, Indigenous peoples, John Baptist, legends, lost world, McLeod brothers, myths, Nahanni Valley, Neanderthal, nuk luk, Nuk-Luk, Valley of the Headless Men, WaheelaLeave a comment on The Lost World of the Nahanni Valley, NW Territories Proudly powered by WordPress ✓Thanks for sharing!AddToAnyMore…